Methods and systems for correlating connections between users and links between articles

• US 8,060,405 B1
• Filed: 12/31/2004
• Issued: 11/15/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Lawrence, Stephen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Weiss; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Vanderhorst; Victoria
• Application Number:
  US11/026,681
• Time in Patent Office: 2,510 Days
• Field of Search: 705/14, 715/202, 706/707, 709/228
• US Class Current: 705/14.54
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0256 User search

Abstract

Methods and systems for correlating connections between users and links between articles to identify search and/or ad spamming are disclosed. Social networks can be used to identify connections between users for correlation with links between articles, which can be identified through searches of article contents and/or back tracing accesses to articles. One disclosed method comprises identifying first associations between a plurality of users in a network of associated users; identifying second associations between one or more users and one or more articles; identifying third associations between at least some of the articles or between some of the users and access to some of the articles; and determining at least one of the third associations is correlated with one or more of the first associations.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

determining, by a computer system, connections between a plurality of users in a network of associated users;

storing, by the computer system, information on the connections in a database;

locating, by the computer system, a desired webpage;

identifying, by the computer system, a first administrator of the desired webpage;

identifying, by the computer system, a link in the desired webpage that directs to a linking webpage;

identifying, by the computer system, a second administrator of the linking webpage;

looking up, by the computer system, the information to identify a relationship between the first administrator of the desired webpage and the second administrator of the linking webpage;

assigning, by the computer system, a weight to the link based at least in part on the identified relationship; and

determining, by the computer system, a ranking for the desired webpage in search results based at least in part on the weight assigned to the link.

2. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which is encoded program code, the program code comprising:

program code for determining connections between a plurality of users in a network of associated users;

program code for storing information on the connections in a database;

program code for locating a desired webpage;

program code for identifying a first administrator of the desired webpage;

program code for identifying a link in the desired webpage that directs to a linking webpage;

program code for identifying a second administrator of the linking webpage;

program code for looking up the information to identify a relationship between the first administrator of the desired webpage and the second administrator of the linking webpage;

program code for assigning a weight to the link based at least in part on the identified relationship; and

program code for determining a ranking for the desired webpage in search results based at least in part on the weight assigned to the link.

3. A method comprising:

identifying, by a computer system, a desired webpage and a link in the desired webpage that directs to a linking webpage;

determining, by the computer system, a first entity associated with the desired webpage;

determining, by the computer system, a second entity associated with the linking webpage;

determining, by the computer system, a relationship between the first entity of the desired webpage and the second entity of the linking webpage based at least in part on connections information of entities that are part of a network; and

classifying, by the computer system, the link based at least in part on the determined relationship between the first entity and the second entity.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first entity is determined to be associated with the desired webpage is responsive to the first entity being an administrator of the desired webpage.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the first entity is determined to be associated with the desired webpage responsive to the first entity being responsible for the design, implementation, or maintenance of the desired webpage.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein determining a first entity associated with the desired webpage comprises searching the desired webpage for information that identifies an administrator of the desired webpage.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein determining a first entity associated with the desired webpage comprises querying a domain name registration service for an administrator of the desired webpage.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the first entity associated with the desired webpage is identified by analyzing access patterns of users to the desired webpage.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the connections information describes associations between members of a social network.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the connections information describes types of associations between members of a social network and the weight assigned to each association type.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein classifying the link comprises:

assigning a searching weight to the link based at least in part on the determined relationship between the first entity and the second entity; and

determining a ranking for the desired webpage in search results based at least in part on the weight assigned to the link.

12. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

determining a ranking for the desired webpage in search results based at least in part on the classification of the link.

13. A method comprising:

identifying, by a computer system, an advertisement;

determining, by the computer system, a first entity associated with the advertisement;

identifying, by the computer system, an access point to the advertisement;

determining, by the computer system, a second entity associated with the access point;

determining, by the computer system, a relationship between the first entity and the second entity based at least in part on connections information of entities that are part of a network; and

classifying, by the computer system, the access point based at least in part on the determined association between the first entity and the second entity.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein an administrator of the advertisement is determined to be the first entity associated with the advertisement.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein determining that the first entity is associated with the advertisement is responsive to the first entity being responsible for the design, implementation, or maintenance of the advertisement.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein determining a first entity associated with the advertisement comprises searching the advertisement for information that identifies an administrator of the advertisement.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first entity associated with the advertisement is identified by analyzing access patterns of users to the advertisement.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein determining a second entity associated with the access point comprises:

identifying an IP address corresponding to the access point; and

determining an entity associated with the IP address.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein determining a second entity associated with the access point comprises querying an Internet Service Provider for the entity associated with the access point.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the second entity associated with the access point is identified based on an embedded cookie of the access point.

21. The method of claim 13, wherein the connections information describes associations between members of a social network.

22. The method of claim 13, wherein the connections information describes types of associations between members of a social network and the weight assigned to each association type.

23. The method of claim 13, wherein classifying the access point comprises assigning a weight to the access point based at least in part on the determined relationship between the first entity and the second entity.

24. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

determining whether the advertisement has experienced ad spamming based on the classification of the access point.

25. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which is encoded program code, the program code comprising:

program code for identifying a desired webpage and a link in the desired webpage that directs to a linking webpage;

program code for determining a first entity associated with the desired webpage;

program code for determining a second entity associated with the linking webpage

program code for determining a relationship between the first entity of the desired webpage and the second entity of the linking webpage based at least in part on connections information of entities that are part of a network; and

program code for classifying the link based at least in part on the determined relationship between the first entity and the second entity.

26. A non-transitory computer-readable medium on which is encoded program code, the program code comprising:

program code for identifying an advertisement;

program code for determining a first entity associated with the advertisement;

program code for identifying an access point to the advertisement;

program code for determining a second entity associated with the access point;

program code for determining a relationship between the first entity and the second entity based at least in part on connections information of entities that are part of a network; and

program code for classifying the access point based at least in part on the determined association between the first entity and the second entity.